Only Christopher Dewdney could mine the darkest pools of lore, legend, natural history, science, cultural history and the arts to recast the seemingly commonplace aspects of an ordinary night into a magical and exhilarating nocturnal tour. Using an original hour-by-hour structure that follows night’s progression from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am, Dewdney explores and celebrates a single representative night at each point on the clock.

• 6:00 pm: The setting sun begins Dewdney’s search to discover the perfect sunset.
• 10:00 pm: The evening rhythms of the city hit their stride, from the cop on the night beat to the backbeat of the clubs.
• Midnight: The hour of romance and magic.
• 3:00 am: Dewdney is wide awake at a sleep clinic.
• 5:00 am: “The desperate hour,” we enter a provocative cultural investigation of the “art of darkness.”

For all those who’ve been wondering what they’ve been missing while they sleep, Acquainted with the Night is an illuminating exploration and a terrific gift book.

Christopher Dewdney has served as writer-in-residence at Trent, Western, and York universities. Featured in Ron Mann’s film Poetry in Motion with William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Michael Ondaatje, and Tom Waits, Dewdney has presented his groundbreaking poetics across North America and Europe. He also creates acoustic and visual art, along with incisive arts commentary for print, radio, and television.

Karl E. Jirgens, head of the Department of English at the University of Windsor, has taught at the universities of Toronto, York, Guelph, and Laurentian. Since 1979, he has served as editor-in-chief of Rampike, a critically acclaimed international journal of art and writing. Jirgens’s fiction, performance works, poetry, and scholarly articles are published worldwide.

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